Samuel Ward

Orthopaedic Surgery

Professor

Professor, Bioengineering
Vice-Chair of Research, Orthopaedic Surgery
Director, Device Acceleration Center
Director, Muscle Physiology Laboratory
Research Focus
Radiology, orthopaedic surgery, physical therapy, function, motor control, aging, muscle physiology, PET, CT, MRI, imaging, shoulder, spine, biomechanics, skeletal muscle

Research Summary

Professor Ward's lab aims to be innovators and leaders in collaborative neuromusculoskeletal research, education, and clinical translation. Their mission is to conduct high-impact, translational research in the field of musculoskeletal research. Although their core focus is on skeletal muscle design and plasticity, they continue to explore leading-edge questions in radiology, regenerative medicine, and rehabilitation.
 

Samuel Ward
Lab Website
Email:
s1ward@ucsd.edu

Bio

Dr. Ward received his Physical Therapy degree from California State University Long Beach (1997) and practiced for several years before pursuing his Ph.D. in Biomechanics at the University of Southern California (2003), and post-doc in Orthopaedic Surgery at UC San Diego (2006). Dr. Ward’s research program focuses on skeletal muscle design and plasticity with special emphasis on the shoulder, spine, and knee. The lab also has an emphasis on multimodal imaging (X-ray, CT, MRI, PET, ultrasound, bioluminescence, and microscopy) of skeletal muscle in animal and human model studies. A key initiative for Dr. Ward’s lab is to understand skeletal muscle microstructure and physiology using MRI.